


Love Is the Death of Duty; Duty Is the Death of Love

by Sookiestark



Series: Twelve Days of Westerosi Christmas [7]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-02-24 09:38:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13211043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sookiestark/pseuds/Sookiestark
Summary: Lyanna doesn't die at the Tower of Joy. When Ned returns her to King's Landing, Robert can no longer marry her, so he marries her to another Baratheon, Stannis.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I wanted to write 12 stories were ASOIAF characters had a chance to be happy. Most of the characters I chose I really really like and just want them to have a chance at being happy. Some of them get to be happpy and in love. 
> 
> I like Stannis. I know he has some flaws but I think he is trying to live up to his code (Book Stannis especially). I wanted to find a way so Stannis could get Storm's End and someone he could be happy with and Lyanna kept coming to mind. 
> 
> I am going to be honest.. I don't know if this will have a happy ending. 
> 
> There will be three chapters. This first one is about how they are brought together. The story will be told from Stannis POV. If you are wondering what is going on, I imagine that Ned and Lyanna had a conversation about how Robert is perfectly okay with dead Targaryen children and how he has swore to wipe them off the planet. I think that they came up with a plan to send Howland Reed and Wylla to Winterfell and go to KL without a baby. (Later, it will come out Ned has a bastard. But everyone would know if Ned had his sister who lost a baby and a bastard with no mother.)
> 
> I think Lyanna is sad about not being with her son but she knows he is safe with Ned and no one knows who he is...
> 
> The last chapter will be about Jon. I think it will be where Stannis figures it out. Stannis figures out Cersei's children are not Robert's. While he is at the Wall (in the show), he thinks about it being unlike Ned to father a bastard. 
> 
> In the books, Stannis talks about how difficult a choice it was to turn against his King and fight with his brother to overthrow the King. Imagine if he loves Lyanna and finds out Jon's parentage and Robert is still alive... I wonder what would happen?

Stannis had been told he did not have a sense of humor and did not like to be mocked, even though he was a young man. When he was introduced to the girl that his brother and King had wanted him to marry, he had the terrible feeling that his brother was joking with him. 

By the time she was found, all was lost. By the time Lord Stark found her in Dorne and brought her back to King's Landing, she was a wan, thin thing, tired and sickly. Robert had bellowed and raged and drank. Lyanna Stark had said very little in the throne room. As Stannis stood near the King, he wondered at what had transpired in the King’s private chambers. Finally, Robert had sent them to their quarters and gone hunting and most likely, whoring. 

Later, Jon Arryn had told him it was too late, no matter how much Robert had wanted Lyanna. They needed the Lannisters and their gold and the only way to do that was for Robert to marry the Lannister girl, Lannister gold for a crown. Robert had to marry Cersei. 

Robert had hoped to keep Lyanna close to him in King's Landing, so he had wanted Stannis to marry her. Robert had taken him aside and said he must marry Lyanna. If Robert must marry this Lannister girl, then Stannis must marry Lyanna. His brother had given him a dozen of reasons why, that he had promised her and would not break his promise to marry her to a Baratheon, that her brother was his best friend and deserved a place near the Iron Throne, that she was the best woman he had ever known, that in doing this, the fact he had not delivered the Targaryen children to him when he came back from Dragonstone would be forgiven. 

Stannis knew the true reason that his brother still desired her and was hoping to keep her close and make her his mistress. Stannis would not tolerate that, but he knew the plan to give him Dragonstone and he felt that was a slight against him as well. So, he struck a bargain with his brother, he would marry the girl, if he could have Storm's End. Robert tried to explain that Dragonstone was the seat of his heir. “You are King and can make me your heir and give me Storm’s End. Send Renly to the blasted rock and I will marry the girl.” 

Stannis had not wanted the Stark girl. She was not a maiden. The Grand Maester told them so. She had given birth not too long ago. Quietly, Lyanna had told the tale of the dead prince having her way with her and the babe, dying in the tower with no midwife. While she told the tale to the King, she looked constantly at her hands and her brother. She spoke little, obviously very upset over the whole thing. 

“It was a girl,” she said. 

Privately, Stannis had asked the Grand Maester, if she would be able to bear children and he had told him there was no reason to think she would be barren. Stannis would not have himself saddled with a barren ruined woman.

Eddard Stark seemed reluctant to marry his sister, saying his sister needed more time to recover and heal, but he had sent an envoy of men North already. It seemed Lord Eddard Stark was sick of war and battles and wanted to return home to his wife and newborn son. In the end, it seemed that marrying Lyanna off quickly would be best for the Seven Kingdoms to heal. 

Stannis met with her one time before they were married. She was pretty, but not beautiful and it made Stannis wonder why his brother and his cousin had fought so fiercely over such an entirely unremarkable woman. Lord Eddard Stark had chaperoned them while they walked. She had walked with him in the gardens and sat on a bench with him, her hands in her lap, pale. Lyanna Stark seemed as if all her energy had been drained. Stannis wondered if Robert was mocking him even in this marriage. 

Stannis had asked to speak to her alone. Her brother, Lord Stark had seemed concerned, but Lyanna had met her brother’s eyes and smiled nodding. Lord Stark had excused himself but kept himself at a distance where he could come if she needed.

 

Stannis’ mother had died when he was fourteen and he had no sisters, no aunts, no female cousins, close to him. He did not know how to speak to a lady. Though he did not want to offend her, he had to be able to speak truthfully to her, especially if this was to be his wife.

He sat next to her on the bench. She moved her blue silk dress so that he could sit comfortably. 

“I do not want to offend you and my manners are rough. I am nothing like my brother. I am serious but fair. A man who believes in the law, in truth, in justice. I must speak plainly if you are to be my wife and the Lady of Storm’s End. Would you mind if we speak plainly?”

“My Lord, I would prefer it..”

“My brother, though he is King, is a man given to more fleshly natures…. I do not know how to speak this so I will just speak it. I believe my brother hopes to make you my wife so that you will be his mistress. I am wondering if that is your intention as well..”

“Ser, I have no intention of allowing that. I am not a whore, regardless of what men might say. I desire not Robert. I never have and nothing has changed that, even now.” 

Stannis wondered if the emotion behind her voice was because she had been hurt by his words, her stay as a prisoner, or worse she had loved his cousin, the prince. He wanted to talk to her more about it but did not know what to say or even if it mattered. Prince Rhaegar was dead and Robert was King. Nothing would change that now.

Her face was upset and she looked like she was angry. Stannis spoke, “I apologize if I have offended you. I have seen the way the King looks at you.” 

“I have too, my Lord. “

She looked up at him and smiled weakly. “I have been thinking and I had hoped we might have a chance to speak privately. It was very kind of the King to say we could get married at the Sept of Baelor, but I am not one to have a grand wedding. Perhaps, we could get married at Storm's End. I do not want to remain in King’s Landing much longer. There is too much drama here, too many ghosts. I do not like the way the King looks at me.”

Stannis did not like the way his brother looked at his betrothed either. Maybe, Robert had approached her and she was afraid of his advances. It might be good for him to return her to Storm’s End. He spoke, “It would be good to marry at Storm’s End and invite the bannermen and the lords.”

“You could show me Storm’s End. I have heard it is magnificent.” 

“It has never been taken and many have tried to take it. After thinking about it, I agree. We should go to Storm’s End to marry. I will arrange it, my Lady.”

“Stay with me awhile more,” she said.

“Why, my Lady?”

She looked at him and smiled, “I thought we could learn more about each other. Do you dance, Stannis?”

“I was taught to dance, but I do not enjoy it.” 

She laughed, “Perhaps, you might suffer a dance with me at our wedding feast.”

“I am sure that could be arranged.” 

Stannis stood and left her in the garden. He had known she had wanted to talk, but he could not think of anything more to say. Also, he had to plan the wedding and their departure from King’s Landing. “Excuse me, my Lady. I will make plans to depart.” 

Robert had been displeased when Stannis said he was taking his wife to Storm’s End, but he could not refuse him. After all, Stannis was the Lord of the Stormlands and needed to see to his lands and his keep, repair after a year of the Reach’s troops scavenging across the land, burning and stealing from the villages and towns. 

It was a simple wedding with no tourney. They were married in the sept at Storm’s End. It was a dark stone sept, sturdy and solid, in an old part of the castle. They had a large feast, fitting their station but in no way extravagant, and invited the Lords and the knights of the Stormlands. The golden and black banners of stags were on the ramparts and all around the hall. Stannis wore a fine doublet of black and Lyanna wore a simple yellow dress. No one from King’s Landing came and no one from the North.

Stannis had heard some of the lords grumble that feasts would not be the same now that Robert was not Lord of Storm’s End. He felt the irritation at being compared to his elder brother and could never understand how his brother easily won the hearts of men. As he had promised her, they danced the first dance. His bride had tried to get him to smile. Stannis had been worried if he was proficient in dancing. He did not want his men to see him fail at it. Because he had been concentrating, he did not return her smile. Nonetheless, Lyanna had seemed pleased and had complimented him on his skill. 

Lyanna had danced with Renly and several lords of the Stormlands. She had an easy manner about her and the quiet sadness had seemed to lessen since they had arrived at Storm’s End. Stannis liked how the new lady of Storm’s End seemed to want to learn the names of each of the towns, keeps and houses of the Stormlands. She seemed to already know a great deal and Stannis was reminded that she had expected to marry his brother and her Septa and Maester had probably studied them with her at Winterfell. 

Stannis did not like the taste of wine and he did not like the way it seemed to make some men act. He drank the first toast with wine and spent the rest of the night drinking water with lemon. He was pleased to see Lyanna did not seem to have a taste for wine either. He had to say that he approved of her nature and her temperament seemed like they might complement each other. 

When the men called for the bedding, he had thought to tell them there was no need, but it was too late. They had taken his bride laughing in their arms, undressing her in a flurry of yellow silk and white skin. He was naked by the time he arrived to her with his already receding hairline. He shut the yelling crowd out of the lord’s chambers, with a kick of his foot.

Behind him, he could still hear their laughter through the large oaken door. He was very aware how naked he was and how vulnerable he felt to her gaze. Lyanna was naked on top of the bed. Her cheeks were red and she was laughing at the activity and the exertion. He had never seen her laugh and for the first time he thought, she was lovely. 

Stannis had climbed in the bed and kissed her. His eldest brother had once offered to take him to a brothel, but he thought it was a trick or a jape and had declined. Stannis knew how he was supposed to bed his wife, but he did not know the subtleties. Living a life around men, he had heard them talk about how sweet it was to bed a woman and the feelings he was supposed to feel. As Stannis kissed Lyanna, he saw the lines on her stomach, only a few, but he could not think of anything except that she was not a maiden and he was being dishonored. 

Knowing he must do his duty and make an heir, he rushed through the act and tried not to think the Lords were laughing at his choice in a wife. Lyanna had looked at him, as he turned over. 

He had stayed with her a fortnight, bedding her every night, and then left her in the capable hands of Storm’s End’s household staff to return to King’s Landing. Stannis had found no love or joy in their marriage bed, only duty. 

Stannis was on the King’s Small Council as Master of Ships. He was a busy man and tried his best to make his King and brother proud. After four moons, he had received a message that Lyanna was expecting and he had gone home to see her. She had met him at the gate, holding her stomach protectively, dressed in a simple dress with her dark hair down. 

Lady Lyanna had laughed, “I was not expecting you Stannis or I would have cleaned up and not been in the stables.”

Stannis pulled hay out of her hair as he spoke to her,“Are you able to be in the stables in your condition?”

“Well, I can’t ride, but I can brush and feed them. If I had known you were coming, I would have dressed for you.”

While Lyanna washed up, Stannis spoke with the steward and checked the stores and books. It seemed his wife had good skills at management of the castle. As he looked over the ledgers, he saw that she mostly saved her allowance, though she had spent some on a few clothes and some boots to walk around the paths of Storm’s End. Lady Lyanna had stuck to a strict budget that Stannis had created for her when he had left. Lyanna had not bought fancy dresses or jewelry. She did not hire a group of maids to attend to her. She seemed comfortable with a very simple lifestyle. He appreciated that about her. 

He spoke briefly to Maester Cressen and he spoke of Lyanna’s interest in horses, history, and Renly’s education. Maester Cressen said she had formed an attachment to the boy and could often be seen walking in the gardens or teaching him to shoot. It seemed his wife was good with a bow and arrow.

When he saw her at dinner, he had spoken, rubbing his beard, ‘I received your message about the child and wanted to come and see how you were.”

“We are fine. The fresh air and the fresh fruit does me good. The only thing I long for is to ride, but I will after the baby comes.” 

Stannis had to say that she looked considerably better than when they were first married and she was so pale and thin. Lyanna was laughing with the household staff and teasing the stable boys. Her color had come back and she was starting to put on weight. Perhaps, it was the baby but she was almost radiant. 

They ate roast chicken and potatoes with squash and carrots. It was simple fare, but Stannis felt it suited him better than the court food with all the gravy, butter, and spices. Renly had stayed with her the past few months to help her get settled as the new Lady. Throughout dinner, she would prompt Renly with questions to show the boy was doing well with his studies. Renly seemed quite taken with his wife and Stannis thought it might be good for his youngest brother to stay at Storm’s End longer and experience a mother’s love. After all, their mother had died when Renly was a baby. 

When it was time for bed, they had climbed beside each other in the big bed. As they laid there, Stannis wondered whether he should try and talk to her about her life here. “I know my mother would often get lonely here, while father was away. Do you find it lonely?”

“No, I have Renly and the keep to manage. I have been tired with the baby. But I think being in King’s Landing would drive me mad.” 

In the dark, he said, “King’s Landing drives us all mad.”

She laughed at his joke and then gasped. Lyanna had taken his hand in hers and placed it on her hard stomach, lifting her nightdress so his bare hand was on her skin. Stannis was glad the room was dark because he could feel the color in his face to think she had lifted her dress so easily.

“The baby is moving,” she said.

Suddenly, he laughed at the movement beneath her skin. Their child, living and moving inside her, had kicked his hand.

“Our child..” he said.  
“Yes, “she said.

He felt foolish, smiling in the dark. The baby was low in her stomach. Below her belly button, the tips of his fingers could feel the hair that covered her sex. He felt his cock move and the blood flow to it. Stannis wondered what kind of sexual deviant he was, like his brother, and tried to change the subject.

“Does it hurt when he moves?” 

“No,” he could hear the smile on her face as she spoke of the unborn child. 

Lyanna moved against him, bare legs against his, lifting her hips against his fingers. His fingers slipped between the folds of her skin and she gasped approvingly. Stannis did not know what he was doing. He had barely touched her the few weeks he had been here, just to make the child. He had gotten no real pleasure from the act. 

The warm feeling was something new. Desire swept through him in waves. He kissed her neck and she touched his shoulders and his back, scratching them with her nails. Lyanna made a noise against him, a sweet whisper of more, and he captured her face in his hands.

“May I touch you and kiss you?” 

She nodded. 

Awkward and uncomfortable, Stannis felt the joy of sharing a bed with his wife. He promised himself that he would learn the things to make her move against him. It might take time but he was a patient man. He had heard that woman could enjoy it as much as men and he would like to see Lyanna breathless beneath him. Suddenly, he understood the sweetness of a woman. 

By the end year, she had a son for them. He had come home to meet his first born and name him, Roderick. Roderick was a big baby with black hair and blue eyes. He had stayed with Lyanna and the baby for a fortnight and found himself, spending time just looking at his son in his crib. When he returned to King’s Landing, Lyanna had kissed him goodbye. He rode for a mile thinking about her kiss, wishing he did not have to return to King’s Landing so soon. 

Over the first few years, Stannis found himself going to Storm's End more and frequently. When he was there, he found himself spending every night with his lady wife. Slowly, he learned the ways to touch her, to kiss her in bed. Sometimes, in his desire, he would take his wife to bed in the middle of the day. He worried a little about what the servants would think. When he expressed his concerns to Lyanna, she had said “They will think their Lord is in love with his wife. They will be glad he is happy.”

Lyanna had pulled him back to bed and he had smiled in the dark of her hair. Perhaps, the Lord of Storm’s End had found love in his marriage.


	2. Chapter 2

On the day that Stannis left with the Royal Fleet to defeat the Greyjoy’s rebellion, Lyanna Stark Baratheon woke on the morning to send her husband off to fight the Ironborn. The sky was clear blue and sunny and she woke to find him sitting at the table by the window. Stannis slept much less than her and when they were first married, he would leave their bed and go to his study to work and read. After Matthis was born, she had had his table and chair brought to their rooms and placed in front of the window. When he had seen it, he had questioned why she had brought his desk to their chamber. “I see you so rarely that it is nice to see you work when I wake.”

Stannis had looked at her with a questioning look, almost angry. Then, after considering what she had said, he had sat at the table and started deciding what else he needed. Stannis never brought it up again. Sometimes, after a late night, pouring over papers and scrolls, he would climb back in bed before dawn and reach tentatively across the space of the sheets, unsure if she was deep in sleep. Lyanna would push closer to him because she knew it soothed him for her to be close. Stannis longed to be close to people he could trust. One of the problems is he rarely trusted people.

In the years since they were married, Lyanna had given Stannis two sons and was pregnant with their third child. She found herself enjoying her role as the Lady of Storm’s End. Sometimes, she would wonder why she resisted it so much, but she knew she didn’t resist the role, as much as the person who would be her husband at Storm’s End. With a different Lord of Storm’s End, she found her position quite agreeable 

It was strange to her that she actually found comfort in her husband. Though many would find her stern and unforgiving husband difficult, she understood Stannis somehow. He was a man driven by values of justice, loyalty, and honor. He worried about what his bannermen thought of him, but he also worried about the children and their future. Stannis struggled with what honor and loyalty meant in a world that often was more grey than black and white. Sometimes he reminded her of her father and sometimes he reminded her of someone else, another man she did not allow herself to think of often. 

 

She would never speak of it, but Stannis reminded her of Rhaegar. When she could bear to think of him, she wondered if Stannis’ thin frame took after his grandmother who was Targaryen because, in the light of the fire, his shoulders cut a familiar shadow on the wall. When Stannis was anxious about why he could not make the lords love him, she could see Rhaegar’s brooding and troubled stare. Stannis and Rhaegar both had a critical look full of intelligence and wariness of the untold future and unknown danger it would hold. Like Rhaegar, Stannis would face it head on, regardless if anyone would stand with him. 

In appearance, the two cousins were completely different, except for their build. Rhaegar had been beautiful and made people stop and look at him when he would pass. Stannis was unremarkable in every way, except for his eyes. His eyes were bright blue and they held an intelligence and a curiosity that Lyanna found comforting. Stannis was shorter and thinner than Robert. Stannis’ hair was dark and slightly balding and he kept it short. Most importantly, Stannis seemed uncomfortable in his skin, and Rhaegar, even though he was beautiful, never seemed entirely comfortable in his body. 

She did not think of her once husband because it brought despair, grief, and shame. It brought dark days and darker moods, troubled thoughts of despair and hopelessness.

 

There were few dark days at Storm’s End for her. She would wake to the sun and see to her children, helping them wake and playing with them as she watched with wonder how beautiful and smart her sons were. If sometimes she grew sad and looked to the North, no one mentioned it. Ned wrote her letters once a month, telling her about life in the North and his sons, Robb and Jon, and his daughter, Sansa. Lyanna wondered if his natural born son, Jon, was treated any differently than his children born in wedlock. It saddened to think he might be, but there was little she could do for Jon in Storm’s End, especially with him being so young.

Instead, she poured herself into her two sons, Roderick and Matthis, and Edric Storm, the King’s natural born son. Stannis had not wanted to take Edric, after he was born, saying that he would not tolerate his brother’s bastard to be raised with his children. However, Lyanna had slowly cared and comforted the dark-haired child, as if he were her own, and slowly Stannis had warmed to the boy, who was roughly the age of Matthis. Lyanna had only spoken of it once, “Edric cannot be to blame who his parents were. None of us had a choice in that. He is a good, smart boy and a cousin to your sons. He is family.” 

Stannis had considered her words, and though she thought he might speak back to her, he said nothing.

The Stormlands were lovely and suited her well. Often, she would take her sons riding in the stormwoods or go riding with Ser Richard Horpe, who was the Master-at-Arms at Storm’s End and a close advisor to her husband, She liked standing on the huge stone ramparts and watch the rain storms roll in off the sea, like sea witches swirling and stirring out of the still blueness that seemed endless off the coasts. The scenery was like something out of the stories of the children of the forest, overgrown dark forests and cloudy stormy shores, full of mountains and green lush landscapes.

The Stormlanders were a loud and passionate people. They were quick to anger and quick to fight but they were quick to laugh as well. At first, she was confused at such displays of emotion and all the hugs and affection. However, quickly she accustomed herself to the bursts of laughter and anger that would happen in the same feast or even the same conversation by the same speaker. 

 

When she had first ridden to King’s Landing, Lyanna had begged, cried and pleaded with her brother to let her return with him to Winterfell. Ned had flatly refused to let her go North. He had told her she must go to King’s Landing and stand before the King. Ned had spoken, “Robert will not rest, until he sees you but the Small Council will not let you marry him, now.” 

Lyanna had responded, “If they do, I shall throw myself into the sea, like Lady Ashara did after we left Starfall.”

Ned had flinched when she had spoken the words, but he said nothing to her. In fact, after that, he spoke very little to her at all. 

Every word Ned spoke to her was gentle, but behind each word was a silence, and in that silence was an accusation, shame, and guilt about what she had done to her family, her people, the Kingdom. By the time they arrived in the capital, she knew her brother had been right all along that Lyanna had been spoiled, selfish and unthinking. Realizing her world had changed drastically, she knew she would have to learn quickly to keep herself alive and her family safe. She quietly prayed that Lord Reed and his small party had made it to the Twins or perhaps even further, already home in the North. She prayed that they might be as far away from King Robert as possible, unnoticed in a land of danger. 

Robert had raged and tried to bully Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, into marrying her still, but Jon had whispered words into the King’s ear. Whatever the words were, Robert had broken into a rage, but his face told the truth, that he would never be allowed to marry Lyanna Stark. In his angry red-faced tirade, the King had vowed to kill every Dragon and all their spawn, even the tiny baby that the Queen had died giving birth to on Dragonstone. At this, Lyanna had fallen to her knees crying, hopeless in her grief and her powerlessness, thinking of another baby, another Dragonspawn and how desperate all of it seemed.

Ned had tried to help her up, but the King had seen her and come down the steps of the Iron Throne to help her. “Lyanna, I am sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you.”

Every day, Robert had taken her on walks through the garden. Every time he took her arm, she thought she might get sick from his touch, but suffered through it with thoughts of a small infant with dark curls. She would smile and be polite, forcing herself to swallow his attention and misguided affection. He tried to explain that he had to marry Cersei Lannister but that he would always love her. “I have found you someone to marry, someone close to me, someone I trust.”

Lyanna had braced herself for what her future would hold and when he had said Stannis, she did not know what to feel. Robert’s younger brother was relatively unknown to Court. It was said he was a good soldier, a good strategist, that he had held onto the Siege of Storm’s End. While the Tyrell forces had feasts of roasted boar and venison, Stannis had boiled shoe leather and rats, but he would not surrender. Someone had told her of a story that recently he had knighted the smuggler who had saved Storm’s End, slipping through the blockade with a ship full of onions. After he awarded the man a title and a castle, he had cut off the man’s fingers which was the King’s Justice for smuggling. She thought on what she and such a stern man would make together as husband and wife. 

 

Their first nights together had been awkward and she could feel his displeasure at her. But he had softened when Stannis had found out Lyanna was pregnant. He had started to care for her, as he saw that she could be an ally, that she saw him as an ally. When she had put his hand on her stomach to feel their son’s first kicks, she saw the wonder and joy, but she saw the only person who cared as much about the tiny unborn thing as she had and realized she cared for him, as well. As the months increased, she found him seeking her bed at night. At first, she was uncertain how she should feel or act, but slowly, she found she did not mind the Stannis’ affection. In fact, she enjoyed their time together and sought his attention. 

The first time she cried out his name, while they were in their bed, she had been breathless against him, sweating and shaking. Pressed against him, she had called his name over and over. Brushing the dark hair from her face, Stannis had kissed unsure what had happened except that her whole body had tightened. After he had fallen asleep, Lyanna had cried, hoping that Rhaegar could forgive her. 

As time passed, Lyanna would think to herself that she actually enjoyed her time with Stannis more than Rhaegar. Sleeping with Rhaegar had been lovely and passionate, but she had been so young. She remembered liking his kisses and his caresses, but the actual act had seemed to be something to tolerate, in order for more kisses and sweet words. Thinking back, she had been so young, when Rhaegar had bedded her. Now that she was older, her body had matured, bringing her a stronger pleasure with Stannis than she had with her silver-haired Prince. 

After Matthis had been born, she hoped to build trust with her husband, so that he could see her loyalty and value her. After all, they had been married for several years and she hoped to make her marriage, at least one that was friendship and care. She had started working with her husband to win the lords and knights of the Stormlands to him and his rule. They had ridden to all the castles and keeps and visited every lord and landed knight, listening to their complaints and compliments. Stannis had listened to them all. In the night, as they lay in whatever guest room they were assigned to, Stannis would recount all his concerns and issues, writing down the Lord's demands. In Weeping Town, he had promised to help build a bigger port, in exchange for a share of the port’s taxes. When House Buckler had wanted a charter for its largest town, Stannis had petitioned the King and Jon Arryn had signed the charter guaranteeing its residents' certain rights in exchange for taxes.

Stannis cared a great deal what his bannermen thought of him and wanted them to love him, as they had loved his father and Robert. Her husband was too concerned what his Lords thought. But she would ride out and play the Lady, laughing politely at jokes and eating daintily off the same plate. With her pleasant nature and her charm, she would win the Lords and the Ladies affection for her husband. 

When they had headed south in the Stormlands, they had ridden passed Summerhall and they had stopped and eaten lunch by the ruins. He never spoke, but let her carefully explore the ruins, watching her roam around the stones. After all, the Targaryens were his family and history, as well. He showed her where his great-grandfather perished, and the place under a tree, where Queen Rhaella had given birth to Prince Rhaegar. If Stannis noticed that Lyanna’s curiosity was heightened, he never mentioned it. 

They rode all the way to the southernmost point of the Stormlands, House Caron and their keep, Nightsong. The whole time they spent in the huge stone garrison, she was cautious to never look to the South. However, Lady Caron had given them rooms that faced South toward the Red Mountains. Lyanna kept the curtains shut and the leaded windows shut. On the last night, Stannis had opened the windows to hear the Singing Towers and she had caught sight of the Red Mountains.

For a second, she thought that Rhaegar might still be at the Tower of Joy and she wanted to go there to see him. But it was a fleeting thought, and she remembered that Rhaegar had died at the Trident and his body had been burned by Jon Arryn. There was nothing left standing at the Tower of Joy, just nine cairns, one for each of the men who died there and a little one for the daughter who supposedly lay beneath it.

Stannis caught her eyes and she could tell on his face that he had seen something of longing or sadness, seeing the Red Mountains. Never speaking a word, Stannis shut the windows.

 

Sometimes, she felt like she was two different people, warring inside of her. One was a pale, sad, quiet girl, staring North to where Winterfell lay, where a piece of her heart was taken. The other was a vibrant woman who was high spirited and full of joy, who would play knights with her sons or build forts, or ride horses like the devil was chasing her, or assist in birthing foals in the stables, or making the steak and kidney pies in the kitchen for the festival of the Father. Sometimes, she thought she might go crazy with it, but she learned how to separate the two in order to survive the days passing into years.

Stannis never asked her about her past. She liked that about him. Her secrets were her own until she wanted to share them. She wondered if she would ever share them. 

Stannis saw her waking and smiled. “I am glad to see you have woken. I wanted to give you something while we are still alone.”

Smiling, she rubbed her eyes and sat up, “What is it?”

He picked up a box and brought it to their bed, sitting on the edge. “The King may stop here after I leave to wish his son, Edric, well. The Queen does not like the idea of him and will not allow Robert to visit with the boy. He mentioned that he may stop here.” 

Lyanna heard the worry in his voice, “I will be careful.”

“Of course.”

He handed her the box. In it was a small set of daggers, that women often wore in the Stormlands as protection. They were small enough to be strapped to a woman’s thighs.

Stannis had spoken, as he helped her strap them to her legs. “You will be safe behind the wall. No siege has ever broken Storm’s End.”

“If no invaders have ever broken through, why will I need weapons?”

Stannis’ blue eyes met her own. They were the light blue of a snowflake on a winter day. “For those men who would hurt you that you must invite in.” 

 

To lift his mood, she had tried to change “When you come home, there will be another son to call you father.”

He pulled her closer to him, so he was between her pale thighs. This was the way of Stannis. One minute, he was serious and stern. The next minute she would be in his arms with that intense look of desire, him kissing her neck and lifting her skirts. She liked this Stannis the most, this secret side where he held his desire and his want and would it unleash it when they were alone. 

 

He spoke to her as he kissed her neck and rubbed her sex, “Perhaps I would like a girl- something small and sweet to be gentle with. Someone to care for us when we are old. Perhaps I am sick of wooden swords and shields lying about.”

Lyanna met his lips with hers and they stopped speaking in words. 

 

Later, she had stood at the docks with her sons. Lyanna spoke to Stannis as she kissed his bearded cheek, “Promise me, you will come back.”

“I have every intention of that after I put these Ironborn down.” 

 

Lyanna spoke, with the wind blowing her loose hair back, “If you don’t return before our son comes, what shall I name the baby?” 

“If it is a boy, we could name him Rickard after your father. But I believe it will be a girl. If it is a girl, I like the name Shireen, if you like.” 

“Yes, I think that you will be wrong, but Rickard Baratheon will be among your sons when you return.  
Stannis smiled, a rare occurrence. “We shall see, my Lady.”

When he returned, Lyanna greeted him on the docks with Roderick, Matthis, Edric, and Shireen, their daughter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have taken much of Stannis desire for Lyanna from the scenes between him and Melissandre. I wonder if Stannis had really desred his wife how different he might have been. 
> 
> I can only imagine some of the conditions and treatments that Shireen had to undergo..

Shireen had celebrated her second name day and was a pretty girl and curious toddler when the dark spot appeared on her cheek. When Maester Cressen had told Lady Lyanna that Shireen had greyscale, the entire castle became a frenzy of activity and fear. All the household that had come in contact with Shireen had to wash once in hot, soapy water and the second bath in wine. All the items in Shireen’s nursery were put into a large pyre and burned. Everything from her bed, to her dresses, her soft toys, her slippers, and her dolls. All were burned in the yard. When it was ash, It was swept up and buried outside the walls in a six-foot hole. The yard was then washed with hot soapy water and wine. 

The Lady of Storm’s End supervised the cleaning and destruction of anything that might be infected. Then, Lyanna inspected each one of her sons and Edric. She looked over their bodies, boys squirming as she looked at every freckle and spot on them. When she was certain they were not infected, she had each one washed three times in hot soapy water and three times in wine. Lady Baratheon wanted to make sure that they would be healthy, that they would be safe. 

Shireen was moved to one of the barely used towers in the back of the yard. Lyanna made sure that it was a reasonably sized room and it was cleared and cleaned. In a room with one leaded window and a lock, they put a small cot with a simple wool blanket for Shireen. The only other thing that was in the room was a small plain chair for Maester Cressen to sit as he treated her. 

Shireen was not allowed to bring toys to her new tower room because of how infectious greyscale could be. In fact, she was not allowed to bring anything. Lyanna wept as Shireen, in a simple shift of white and barefoot, was taken by her small hand by Maester Cressen who wore a type of strange leather suit and leather gloves to her new chambers. When Maester Cressen came out of the tower, he put a large iron lock on the door. It only had one key and Maester Cressen wore it around his neck. After all, greyscale was highly contagious and he could not risk it infecting another. Three times a day, he would go and visit with her drinking her meals and tending to her needs, monitoring the progress of the disease. Maester Cressen did not sleep. Instead, he spent his nights, scouring books and messages brought by ravens from Oldtown about potential cures for Shireen.

Lady Lyanna wrote a letter to her husband, telling him of the situation and to come home if he was willing and to bring whatever he could home for their daughter. Stannis sent word that he would be home immediately with the best healers he could find in King's Landing and that he had sent word around Westeros looking for the best healers. 

Stannis arrived at Storm’s End expecting to see a distraught Lyanna, waiting for him. He had brought one of the finest healers from King’s Landing. Lyle the White had supposedly cured a whole village in Dorne of greyscale, as well as fixing bones, making the lame walk, and healing the blind. Lyle smelled like vinegar and garlic and seemed to talk a great deal about very little. Stannis did not like the man at all, but he could not ignore his reputation as a healer.

Instead of Lyanna meeting him at the docks, Roderick and Matthis met him with their Septa and their nurse. As he greeted his sons, he spoke, “Where is the lady of the house?” 

Roderick spoke, “Mother is laying in bed.”

It was unlike Lyanna to lay in bed after breakfast. Even when she was close to her confinement, he never found her to be laying in bed. He sent Lyle with his children and their Septa to find Maester Cressen and went to find his wife.

 

Stannis found Lyanna in their bed. Normally, she was tidy and her hair was up in a braid. This day she was still in her sleeping gown and her hair did not look like it had been brushed for a few days. When she saw him in the doorway, she had started crying. Lyanna had embraced him, tightly. “I cannot take it. All I think about is her in the tower. Alone. I thought I would be stronger, but I feel like I am going mad.”

Stannis took a step back to look at his wife and assess her critically. He spoke, his voice strong with certainty, “I have brought a healer from King’s Landing. It is said he cured a whole town of greyscale. All will be well.”

 

She fell to her knees and she was weeping. “I cannot lose her. I will not abandon my child. Please, Stannis. Please. Please, please, I cannot abandon her. Not her..”

He knelt down and held her. “Lyanna, you must calm down. I will fix this. I have Maester Cressen working on it. I will find a way to stop it. I promise you. I would not have any harm befall her or any of our children or you. Give the new healer a fortnight. What is a fortnight? She has only been in the tower for a week... Children get the pox and are in bed for longer than that. Do not worry Lyanna.”

He picked her up off the floor. Lyanna spoke, “Ser I know a little of being locked away from the whole world and all you love. I will not leave my daughter who is just a baby to deal with that... Lock me in the tower with her. At least, I could soothe her and hold her. Her cries break my heart. I have had to listen to her cries for a whole week and I have been unable to comfort her. It is unbearable and I fear I am losing my mind. Lock me in with her and if I catch greyscale, so be it. I have done my duty as a wife, I have given you two fine boys, heirs to Storm’s End. If I catch greyscale I give you leave to find a more obedient wife.”

“I do not think I would want or need another wife.”

She hugged him. “Please let me go upstairs to see her. You cannot keep her from me. She is just a baby. I hear her scream from the window, She is scared and lonely.”

“Give the healer a fortnight. He says he cured an entire village. Now, Lyanna when was the last time you ate? Let’s get the maids to draw you a bath. Maybe some food and a tonic for your nerves.”

Lyanna was washed, dressed, and ate dinner with him when Maester Cressen came to give her a tonic for her nerves. Sadly, she looked at her husband and drank the whole glass, looking out the window at the tower. Stannis had the feeling that he handled the situation as best as he could. Lyanna would see when Shireen was better that this was the best way.

 

After Lyanna was resting, Stannis went to walk around the yard of Storm’s End. Walking out to the yard, for the first time, he heard Shireen’s screams, “MAMA… Mama...MAMA.. DADA. MAMA!” 

He found Maester Cressen in the library. “Does my daughter cry like that often?”

“Unfortunately, my Lord, she does. I am certain the disease is not painful, so she is not in pain. I think she is lonely and too young to understand why she is kept away from everyone.”

Stannis considered what the Maester said. He had known Cressen since he was a boy and he trusted his skill and his care for his family. Cressen would not want Shireen to cry unnecessarily and was doing all he could to help the child. 

Stannis looked at Maester Cressen, “My wife will need more of that tonic. It upsets her to hear our daughter’s cries.”

“Of course, my Lord. Lyle, the healer, has told me that he needs me to stay out of his way so that he can heal Lady Shireen unimpeded. Is this your wish, my Lord?”

“What will the harm be? Give him a fortnight, uninterrupted and unimpeded. If he heals her, we have lost nothing. I have brought you some books and some herbs, as you asked. Two weeks will give you some time to sort through the books. “ 

Every morning for a fortnight, Stannis would stand in the yard, underneath the tower and hear the cries of his daughter. At the first sound of crying, Lyanna would go back to her room and drink tonics and lay in bed. His son’s faces would turn pale and they would play further away from the tower, where they could not hear her screams. 

On the fourteenth day, Stannis brought Lyle the White into his study with Lady Lyanna and Maester Cressen to ask if he had cured their daughter. Lyle had a great many excuses, but it became apparent that nothing he has done had helped his daughter. Stannis had Lyle detained and asked for Maester Cressen to take the key from Lyle the White.

Maester Cressen unlocked the door to the tower and the three of them and Ser Richard Hope took the stairs to see Shireen. When they reached the room where Shireen was kept, the wicket was open and they could see the little girl tied to the bed by her tiny hands and feet. There were leeches and knives and from the cuts on her legs it appeared that Lyle was bleeding her to let out the bad blood. There were herbs, pestles, tonics, and pastes. However, the greyscale had spread further on Shireen’s face. Also, from the smell and the view, Shireen had not been allowed from the bed to relieve herself and the bedclothes and her legs were covered in excrement. Maester Cressen unlocked the room door.

Shireen had sores where the ropes had cut in her skin and she looked pale and entirely unwell. The smell from the sheets was pungent and unpleasant. The little girl seemed feverish, and as if she was in shock like she did not register her mother and father were in the room with her. 

Shireen stirred and looked directly into her father’s eyes, the same blue eyes that he had. Finally, she recognized him and screamed, “Dada! Dada!”

Shireen looked and saw Lyanna behind him, tears spilling down her cheeks. Shireen started crying and screaming loudly. Pulling the wounds against the rope, her wrists and ankles started bleeding again. “MAMA! MAMA! MAMA! MAMA!”

Lyanna bolted, and if Stannis had not already known she would, Lyanna would have been in the bed with Shireen in her arms. Instead, he held her back, walking her to the door with the help of Ser Richard. Being walked away from her daughter, she struggled against her husband with the strength of a man or a knight in battle. 

Once, cleared of the door, Stannis shut it firmly. Lyanna banged against the door, “Shireen, Mama is here. Mama is sorry. I will never leave you. Baby girl, Mama is here. No one will hurt you anymore.”

Stannis looked through the wicket, the window of the thick door, where food or objects could be passed through. There were strong sturdy bars and his daughter would never be able to reach that high. After all, it was meant to be at eye level for an adult. 

 

Stannis looked at Ser Richard Horpe, “Ser, please remove Lyle the White’s head for me and nail it on the gates. I have a need for all to see what happens to men who hurt my family or lie to me. Maester Cressen, please untie my daughter from the bed and wash her. See to her wounds. I never want her restrained, unless it is for her own safety. Maester Cressen, I do not think we need any foreign healers, do you?”

“No, my Lord.” Cressen answered as he put his gloves on so that he could gather Shireen off the bed. 

“Maester Cressen, you helped my wife bring her into this world. Do you think you might be able to heal her?”

“Aye, my Lord, I remember the morning Shireen was born. I will do my best. I have promised you all my wisdom and my knowledge. I will do my best.” 

“Good. I think my wife and I would prefer if you did the healing.” 

Lyanna would not be deterred and kept trying to see Shireen and reach her. Stannis continued, “Maester Cressen you will lock that door and you will hold the key. My wife is grief-stricken and is not thinking clearly. You will not let her in that room until my daughter is no longer contagious. “

“Please, husband. Please.. Stannis, please”

Stannis wrapped his arms around his wife and started to lead her away. He stopped and looked at her, brushing the hair out of her face. He spoke to the Maester, but he was looking into his wife’s grey eyes, “Maester Cressen, I have read in those books, that as long as you are not touched by an affected person, greyscale is not typically spread.”

“There are some that say it is spread by air, but it is most commonly spread by skin contact. 

“Perhaps, we can keep this wicket in the door open. My wife misses our daughter and perhaps it would comfort the girl.” 

Maester Cressen spoke, “I think if we took precautions that should be fine.” 

Lyanna looked up at her husband and thanked him without words. He let her go and she rushed to the window to watch her daughter get washed.

After that day, Lyanna would not leave the door in the tower. On one side of the door, Shireen would cry for her, “Mama mama mama mama.” Lyanna would say to her through the door. “Shush, baby. Mama is here... Shireen, listen to me. Mama is here. Do you hear me, Sweetling..” 

Lyanna would fold paper into flowers and chains. She would draw pictures of animals with pencils and push them through the bars of the window. Shireen would scurry off her sick bed to collect them from the stone floor, paper chains of pink and blue, yellow and black flowers made of ribbons, bits of dyed wool turned into tiny Children of the Forest, tree maidens with wispy hair and wings, pictures of crudely drawn animal families, stags, bears, and wolves. All to hear Shireen’s delightful laugh as she picked them off the stone floor. Lyanna would watch her play with them on her bed, laughing in childish delight. Every week, they would be collected and burned in the fire to keep the greyscale from spreading.

Months pass and one evening, Stannis goes to the tower and finds that Lyanna has put a mattress on the floor in front of the door. When he wakes her, “Why are you sleeping here?”

Lyanna has him lay on the mattress next to her. When he looks, he can see under the door, Shireen is on the other side, only inches away, sleeping. This is the closest that Lyanna can bet to Shireen. 

Lyanna smiled at him, so close and he wondered how long it had been since they had slept beside each other. She speaks in a whisper, “Maester Cressen says that he thinks she is healed. The greyscale had stopped spreading.”

 

“She is strong, maybe stronger than her brothers.” 

She kissed him, pushing him against the mattress. “She will be well. She will be well and we can hold her.” 

“Cressen told me that so I came to see. He says she will always be scarred.”

Lyanna kisses him, more passionately, “We all have scars. Everyone will just see hers.”

They make love on the mattress. It is all need and joy. She climbs on top of him. Stannis watches mesmerized at how she takes her pleasure from him. When he comes, she lays on his chest, happy. It was then Stannis knew what he felt for Lyanna was more than fondness; it was love. For the first time, he was afraid and vulnerable. Stannis tried to push it out of his head and tell if it was an unnecessary worry. 

 

When Shireen was three, Maester Cressen said she was able to come back to the nursery with her brothers, though it might be better if she had her own room as a precaution. Lyanna picked her daughter up and slept with her every night. They laughed and cried as if Lyanna and Shireen could not get enough of each others touch. It was like they were in love, deliriously happy. 

 

At night, he would wander to where his wife slept with their daughter wrapped in her arms. Pressed against her ruined cheek, Lyanna loved the little girl with a ferocity. Lyanna had found out she was pregnant again, but she was not showing, yet. He crawled into the bed beside his wife. In typical Lyanna fashion, she pushed up against him as if she was searching for his touch. 

He found himself remembering the words she said repeating, “I won't abandon another one.”

Perhaps, she had been mad with grief but he did not think that was it all. He wanted to ask her, but he found himself not wanting to know. He wondered what secrets Lyanna kept behind her grey eyes and what they might mean for the future and the realm. However, Stannis found himself breathing the smell of roses in her hair and falling asleep in bed with his wife and child.

 

When she was big with their fourth child, Lyanna received a letter from her brother, Lord Eddard Stark, “My brother speaks of an unhappiness in his house. His natural born son makes his wife feel troubled and upset.”

“Lord Stark writes that?”

“No, but I read it anyway. The boy is treated poorly by his wife.’

“How would you think a bastard would be treated by his wife? How would you treat a bastard if I brought one home?”

She looked at him, smiling, “I would check to make sure no one had stolen my husband and was impersonating you.”

He smiled back, “Rest easy, Lyanna. Let your brother keep his house and we will keep ours. “ 

The birth of their fourth child was very difficult. In the end, the baby was a boy but was stillborn. Stannis named him Rickard and had him buried. Lyanna would not stop bleeding. Maester Cressen had come to him and told him, “I do not think your wife will live. Her pulse is weak and she has lost a great deal of blood. But if she lives until morning, she might make it.” 

Stannis had known women died in childbirth, but he had not thought Lyanna might. Stannis had taken his sons and daughter to their mother’s bed to kiss her goodbye. 

Lyanna had reached out to him holding Shireen, feverish and burning to the touch. “Where is the baby, Stannis?”

“He was stillborn, Lyanna. I named him Rickard and gave him to the Septon to be buried in the morning.”

Lyanna cried softly. Then, she saw the boys and touched their faces. Crying, Roderick and Mathis hugged their mother. Lyanna spoke, “Look at what a pretty family we have had together. No one ever would have thought that was possible. You have taken a ruined girl and made her a reputable mother and wife, a lady. My father would be glad to hear it.” 

 

Stannis handed Shireen to the nurse and watched the boys leave the room. He took her hand, “You have helped me, as well Lyanna. I have been surprised what I learned from you. I would I find myself disappointed if this is all the time we have together. Lyanna, do not leave me, yet.”

“My brother’s son, Jon, his bastard, I fear for him. I fear that he is not well. I fear my brother’s wife is unkind. I don’t know how to change things, but I worry.”

“Lyanna, promise me you will fight and hang on. If you would like, we will bring the boy to Storm’s End. We have my brother’s bastard and we will have your brother’s, as well. If that would bring you joy, I would gladly give you your nephew. Then, you can care for him with your soft and endless heart. Stay with me and I will give you all I have.”

Weakly, she smiled, “Stannis, you would allow that..? I never thought.”

Her voice drifted off and he squeezed her hand, tighter. “Stay with me Lyanna and I will send both a messenger and a raven tonight. I would go to King’s Landing and make King Robert decree it, if you will stay with me.” 

Lyanna made it through to the morning. Maester Cressen, true to his word, kept her alive. Slowly, she got better. Awkwardly, Maester Cressen came to him and told him that she would not survive another pregnancy and he should do all he could to avoid that. Stannis moved his things to another room. He left for King’s Landing the following day. After all, he was the Master of Ships and he must help run the Kingdom.

Three months later, Stannis was back at Storm’s End to welcome Lord Eddard Stark and his two oldest sons. His eldest son and his heir was named Robb, after his great oaf of a brother, and the second one, the bastard, was named after the Hand of the King, Jon Snow. Robb looked nothing like his father but Jon looked a great deal like a Stark. Jon was the quieter of the two boys, introspective, shy, hesitant, but the boy seemed bright enough. His dark curls and long face reminded him of Matthis and he thought perhaps his sons might enjoy their cousin, as much as they enjoyed Edric Storm. 

Ned seemed hesitant to leave the boy when the time came to leave. The night before he left, Stannis overheard Lyanna and Ned arguing. Stannis did not hear much but when he had knocked on the door, they quieted and invited him in, pretending that they were not arguing. Perhaps, Lyanna had admonished him for not caring for his son. Stannis hoped that she had not done that. After all, Lord Stark was able to run his house as he wanted. Whatever the reason, it was not brought up again. 

 

Lyanna took to the boy like she took to all the children. Jon was almost ten years old and he was a good boy, well-made. Roderick was already as tall as the boy and would tower over Jon Snow when they were fully grown. Lyanna would take the four boys and Shireen riding across the stormwoods. Sometimes, he would see them like First Men, mostly wild, laughing and exploring the endless woods. The boy took to her like Renly and Edric had as if she was the only mother he had ever known.

As Stannis sat at his desk, looking over some scrolls, Stannis was preparing to leave for King’s Landing in the morning. Jon Snow had started making him think about family inheritance and resemblance. Inheritance and resemblance was a strange thing. Robert, Renly, Edric, and Roderick looked like mirror images of each other. Except for the coloring, Mathis and Jon looked similar, as Starks. Unfortunately for Shireen, she probably took after him, instead of Lyanna, but when she would laugh, she was all Lyanna. However, every one of Robert’s children with Cersei looked entirely like Lannisters. Every one of them had golden hair and green eyes and resembled Cersei. Edric Storm looked very little of his mother. 

His thought were broken by Lyanna knocking on his door. She opened it, smiling at him, in her dressing robe.

“I heard that you will be leaving in the morning to return to the Red Keep.” 

“I am. However, I believe you have all you need. Jon seems a good boy and has taken to Storm’s End.”

“He has... I wanted to wish you well before you left. You are rarely home.”. She came to him, leaning against the desk.

Stannis looked up at her. Underneath her dressing gown, she had a sleeping dress, simple, worn, and white. 

Stannis looked at her, moving his chair so that he could grab her hips. Being so close to her made him want to touch her. Playfully, she put a slippered foot on his knee, rubbing his leg. He pushed her skirt up and kissed her knee. “Lyanna, the Maester said we shouldn’t.”

Even as he spoke, he rubbed her upper thigh. 

She spoke, slightly breathless. “Unless I have forgotten something, a kiss will not make me pregnant.”

Lyanna was teasing him, not to make him feel small, but in her playful way. the way to tease Matthis to eat his peas or Shireen to move her hair from her face. It is her lighthearted nature, the way she wins over the Lords and makes children love her.

 

Beneath his skin, he could feel the desire flare up. He kissed her hard, pushing the dress to her thighs and pulling her toward him. 

Gasping, Lyanna pulled back, “I can get some Moon tea or you could pull out. There are other things we can do..”

“Perhaps, you could tell me them. ” He said untying her robe and lifting her nightdress over her head. 

“Would you like to hear all the things we can do.. With your mouth or my mouth? I am sure there are creative things we could do.” Lyanna spoke, as he untied his breeches. Lord Stannis made love to the Lady of Storm’s End on his desk, spilling scrolls and drafts of ships upon the floor. He noticed very little of the papers falling on the floor. All he could see was Lyanna’s naked body splayed before him and all he could hear where the wicked things she spoke. 

The morning he left Storm’s End, he made sure his things were back in their shared chambers.


	4. Chapter 4

The next few years passed quickly enough. Stannis found himself coming to Storm’s End every few months. Every time, he found something different, another project, another fort the children built, another garden, a grotto in the godswood, another pet. Lyanna seemed to have limitless energy and a permissive nature to keep up with four boys. 

Stannis would have hoped she would have taught them more about order, duty, and law. She taught them about family, honor, and adventure. When he would come home, he would find them involved in some project of science or nature, raising some new baby animal, riding horses, or an informal archery tournament. But in spite of her permissiveness and the chaotic nature of their days, Stannis was pleased that the boys could all recite the noble houses of Westeros and their sigils. They knew the history of Westeros and Essos, as well as recite the Kings from Aegon the Conqueror. They knew passable Valyrian. Only Matthis excelled at languages or studies but all the boys knew enough. 

 

Once he came home to a fawn in the yard eating out of the hand of his daughter. The fawn had a crown of flowers and a fine leash like she was a lady’s dog and not a wild creature. 

“Shireen, where did you get that beast and why is it in the yard, not in the forest?”

“Father, her name is Argella and she is my pet. Mother and Ser Richard found it when they were riding. It was injured so Mother and I nursed her back to health. Now, it is dangerous for her to be sent free. She is not afraid of humans and cannot fend for herself.”

“Argella... What a noble name you have chosen for a deer... Are you certain she does not have diseases or illnesses?”

 

“Maester Cressen has checked has Petyr the stable boy. His father is a shepherd and he knows a great many things about animals.”

Lyanna came out in the yard dressed in yellow. He smiled to see her. 

She spoke, “I see you have met Argella.”

“Our daughter’s first friend is a deer.”

She kissed him, “There are worse things to be friends with, like the ladies at Court. A stag is the sigil of your house. She will grow into a pretty thing. A fine thing for the only daughter of a Great House.”

Stannis kissed her back. Somehow, Lyanna could always soften him, bend her gently to her will. It was not a simple skill, an easy thing. Stannis was a man known to be iron-willed, unbendable but somehow she could soften him. 

Over the years, Roderick became more and more like a Baratheon. Every day he grew stronger, bigger, and more skilled with weapons, horses, and fighting. He was taller than his brothers and he was dashing and handsome. Roderick was boisterous and sometimes given to bragging. He liked being the biggest, the strongest and did not listen when he should. True to his Baratheon name, he would sometimes act without thinking through a plan. People would say he looked like Robert but Stannis knew he was the spitting image of his grandfather, Ormund Baratheon. He did not listen to people gossip about the resemblance of Roderick to his uncle. Stannis knew his wife’s disdain for the King and he did not doubt she had been faithful for all the years they were married.

 

Stannis thought that the boy would make a fine heir to Storm’s End, and probably have an easier time at it than he had.

Matthis was quieter and smaller than Roderick. The boy refused to cut his hair and sometimes when he rode beside his mother, Stannis could only see Lyanna in the boy. In some ways, Stannis could see the pattern of history repeating, giving him two sons close in age, one good with a sword and the other being smarter and more thoughtful. Matthis would need a good wife. Someone he could love and trust and rely on like he had found in Lyanna. Someone to ease his woes when he returned home from Roderick’s bragging and victories. 

Edric was very much like his brother, the King, but Stannis had seen a gentleness in the boy that his brother did not have. Often, he would find the boy playing with Shireen or tending one of the many animals that Lyanna would foster. Renly had been asking about a squire or taking Edric to Dragonstone. He had said he would stop on his way back from his progress across Westeros and pick either Edric or Jon. 

Both boys were bastards and being the Lord of Dragonstone’s squire was a good stepping stone for a boy with no prospects, land or title, just good blood and breeding. Stannis did not approve of his younger brother and his lifestyle. Renly had acquired an extravagant lifestyle with fine wine and food, an entire wardrobe of the finest clothes and a good collection of horses and would burn through any allowance the King gave him, trying to keep up with his standard of living. Stannis did not know why he needed all that. Renly was barely seventeen and Dragonstone was an island of rocks. Renly had acquired another habit that Stannis had heard of, that he preferred the company of men. Stannis did not care who Renly slept with but he did not know if Jon or Edric should be exposed to such behavior. When Renly returned from his progress of Westeros, he brought home Ser Loras Tyrell to be his squire. 

Jon was good with a sword. In some ways, he was as good as Roderick. Even if he was smaller and skinny compared to his cousin, he often could beat him. Roderick was all strength and Jon was the skill. Sometimes, Stannis enjoyed watching them spar in the yard, and he did not often enjoy men fight, Jon was a true child of the North. He worshipped the Old Gods, as did his wife. He would find them in the godswood together. Sometimes, he thought the Stark blood must be very strong because the boy reminded him of Matthis or Lyanna, but they were related.

When Roderick was eleven, he was sent to King’s Landing to be a page for the King. It was a proud day for Stannis to hear his brother praise his eldest son. He would remember Roderick, proud and standing tall beside the Iron Throne. 

 

The night before Stannis left to return to Storm’s End, Robert had stumbled into his study, smelling of wine and some whore’s perfume. Robert leaned over him, breathing his wine-soaked breath on him. “Good old loyal Stannis. Always working. Always sober. Always righteous. I should have given Lyanna to the Silent Sisters before I gave her to you. She must be dying inside with you for a husband, all shriveled up in Storm’s End.“

Stannis looked at his brother over the maps and the letters. He wondered to himself how long Robert had been drinking and reasoned probably since morning.

“You never even thanked me. I gave you the best woman in the Seven Kingdoms and I didn’t even get thanks. Tell you what.. Let me have her one night and we will call it thanks enough. I can show her all that she might have had. I would be glad to show her what she misses. ”

Stannis looked at his brother. His brother was bigger and stronger than him and his King as well. Looking at him, he could see why Lyanna had only disdain for his brother. 

“Brother, you are drunk and my King, so this time I shall let it pass. But I will not let you speak of my wife again in such a way. You have your own wife, as well as the rest of the whores in King’s Landing. Remember she raises your bastard on Storm’s End with my own sons. Speak better of my wife.”

 

When he left King’s Landing the next day, he remembered thinking how much Roderick looked like his brother and how much he wished he had not looked like him. As he rode on the Kingsroad, he thought it was funny how inheritance worked that he would have one son that would resemble Robert when Robert’s sons looked like their mother. Maybe it was the Seven trying to show his brother his vanity. 

As Stannis thought that, he knew it was not true. Edric Storm looked like Robert had spit him out. He had heard Robert speak of a girl in the Vale, Mya Stone. Once, he had heard a description of her and she sounded like Robert’s child. Over the years, as a member of the Small Council, occasionally, a girl might bring a small dark-haired child with eyes of blue to the back doors of the Red Keep. Sometimes for a coin to feed the child. Sometimes just to talk with Robert again. His brother had a certain charm that he had never understood. None of the children had ever had anything but black hair and blue eyes.

Stannis felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up thinking that the Queen’s children might not be the King’s. Cersei would be committing treason and could be executed. Of course, Robert needed her father. Tywin Lannister was no simple thing to be dismissed. He might still be the most powerful man in Westeros. Stannis almost laughed at his foolish brother who was so busy fucking whores that he did not see his own wife put the cuckold’s horns on him. 

Stannis decided to tell no one but gather more information and see if he could prove this theory. 

When Jon was about thirteen, he returns to Winterfell that year for the first time in three years. for a few moons. Stannis went with Davos to pick the boy up at White Harbor and look at some ships for the King’s Fleet that the Manderly’s had built. Jon was there on the docks with his father and an obedient wolf pup, no more than five months old. The direwolf pup, Ghost, was soft white and long-limbed, red eyes and strangely quiet, however, the beast seemed attached to Jon as Argella was attached to Shireen. He wondered if the wolf would eat the doe. 

Jon was a dutiful boy and at fourteen, he was handsome and dark. Sometimes looking at him, Stannis was reminded of something but he could not put his finger on what was the thing. Lord Eddard brought him with his son Robb. As they stood in the sea air on the docks at White Harbor, Lord Eddard had shaken his hand and asked, “How is my sister and your children? 

“We let Roderick compete in the Tourney for Prince Joffrey’s 12th name day, he did much better than expected. He unhorsed Ser Loras Tyrell in three rounds.” 

“You must be proud.”

“I have no use for tourneys, Lord Stark. It seems a great waste of time and energy charging at each other with large sticks. However, my son is pleased and Lyanna was overjoyed to see him do so well. He reminds me a bit of my brother. Your sister, Lyanna, is well and will be glad to have Jon back at Storm's End. I have been talking about fostering Jon Arryn’ s boy. Another boy for Lyanna and her wild ways.” 

As the ship left the dock, Jon spoke, “I would have loved to see Roderick ride in the lists.”

Stannis looked at the boy and touched his shoulders, “Don’t worry, he has a taste for it and will tell you all about it when we see him again. Honestly, I have seen better fighting between you and Roderick in the yard with practice swords, than him and the Knight of Flowers..” 

Stannis spent the trip, reading a massive book about lineages of Westeros and mulling over papers. He would look and see Ser Davos teach Jon how to sail with his sons Maric and Devan helping. Jon was always willing to learn a new skill and no shirker of hard work laughed with them and climbed the ropes. Stannis thought to tell the boy to take care, that his Aunt Lyanna would hurt them both if he should hurt himself. With the boy climbing and the wind blowing his back, Stannis felt that familiar tug of memory but he still could not place it. His wolf pup, often sat by Stannis while his young master climbed ropes and played in the sea breeze. 

 

Over the past two years, Stannis had found more evidence. Over half a year ago, he had taken his evidence to Jon Arryn the Hand of the King. Jon had listened, quietly reflecting on the evidence. Jon had told him that they would tell Robert when the time was right. Sensitive matters must be handled carefully. 

Stannis wanted to tell his wife what he had learned but he had not. He wanted to tell her that Mya Stone’s mother had hair as red as Lysa Tully and the girl had come out dark haired. Edric’s mother had honey-colored hair and Edric was the image of Robert. All of Cersei's children were golden and not one was Robert’s. Stannis had started to believe that the Queen’s own brother was the father of her children. After all, he was the only one who had access to her who matched the description. Who would question a Kingsguard and her brother? 

 

Stannis wished he could tell Lyanna but that information was too dangerous and he could not risk it. He knew she was smart enough to not tell but he could not risk her being in danger. He wished he could not go back to King’s Landing but stay home with his gentle wife, Lyanna, who was not given to lies or deceit. He was glad she had never wanted to come to King's Landing and be a part of Court. It had never interested her.

 

When they arrived at Storm’s End, a message waited for him, Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King was dead. It seemed he died suddenly. Stannis had stayed for one night in Storm’s End and left the next day for King’s Landing to see the King. Stannis wondered to himself who had Jon Arryn told and who had murdered him. Even as he sailed to King’s Landing, Stannis knew, for certain that the King would appoint him the Hand of the King. After all, Stannis had served him faithfully in every way. Carefully, he planned how he would tell Robert and depose the Lannisters from power.

When he had arrived in King’s Landing, the King was drunk and grieving. Red-faced and slightly teary, Robert had told him that he was leaving to go to the North and ask Lord Eddard to be his Hand. Stannis was so angry that he thought to leave that night. While he was in his chambers, thinking about what might be his next steps, Renly came to him. His youngest brother had a proposition for him that they convince Robert to put Cersei aside and marry Loras’ sister, Margaery. Renly showed him a portrait of the girl, saying “I don’t think she looks like Lyanna, but do you think the King will think so?”

“Margaery does not look like Lyanna. If she wants to be Queen, it is a dangerous business. Remind her of Elia and Rhaella.”

Renly looked at the portrait and put it in his pocket. Stannis scratched his beard. “Maybe we could marry her to Rodrick. Storm’s End is no small thing, and behind the King’s sons, are me and mine. Perhaps, she might be queen yet.”

Renly looked at his brother oddly and Stannis thought he might question him about his plans. After all, Stannis was not given to plotting or treachery, so to speak so bold a statement, Stannis must know something. However, Renly did not ask knowing that Stannis would not reveal any secrets. Instead, Renly went back to his room where Loras probably waited, with a raven and a pen and Stannis’ offer

 

Stannis was at Storm’s End when he received the messenger that Lord Mace Tyrell would accept his offer and Margaery Tyrell would marry Roderick, heir to Storm’s End. When he held the paper in his fist, he knew that Roderick was only thirteen and still young, but he was big for his age. It would be good if he could present his brother, Robert, an heir that was wedded to one of the wealthiest houses in Westeros. Robert loved Roderick and it may soothe him to know that Roderick would be his heir when the Queen’s treachery was revealed. Hopefully, his new good daughter, Margaery, would prove to be fertile. Perhaps, things were moving together in a way that would benefit Stannis.

 

As Lord Stark settled in as his role of the King’s Hand in King’s Landing, Stannis stayed at Storm’s End and brooded, making arrangements for Roderick’s expensive wedding. The day Stannis heard that Joffrey would be wedded to Lord Stark’s eldest daughter, he made plans to send Matthis to the Redwynes to foster.

One day, a priestess of R’hllor from Essos came to Storm’s End. Lyanna met with her and Stannis. She had wild ideas that Stannis would be King, that he was The Prince Who Was Promised. She had seen it in her magical flames. “My Lord, I have seen you crowned on the Iron Throne. You will sit on it, as will your sons.” 

Lyanna had wanted to throw her out and have the dogs chase her from the ground for peddling foolishness. However, Stannis had said that he had wanted her to stay and be a seer, look in the flames when he needed the second sight or guidance. Lyanna had looked at him strangely but he ignored it and had the woman, Melisandre, put in comfortable rooms in the east tower.

Lyanna had taken his hand, “My love, I do not trust her. She reeks of death and ruin.”

“Now, you sound foolish Lyanna. How can one woman bring ruin and death to our house? 

 

Several months passed, Lord Eddard had requested he talk to Stannis, but Stannis put him off with his son’s upcoming nuptials. As a wedding gift, before Roderick came home, Robert knighted him. It was an honor that the king had knighted him for acts of strength and valor for House Baratheon. The King had appointed Lancel Lannister as his squire and told Roderick that if his father did not come back, Roderick could be Master of Ships.

When Lord Mace Tyrell and his family descended on Storm’s End for the wedding Stannis thought he might lose his mind, as well as spend all the revenue of a year on this wedding. Mace brought his wife, his daughter, and three of his boys, as well as his mother. They also brought fleets of cousins, Hightowers, Redwynes, Fossoways. Since Roderick was his heir, Stannis had to invite every lord and landed knight, as well as quite a few of the rich merchants from Bronzegate and Weeping Town. A Tourney was the custom for a wedding of such high social status so Stannis had stands constructed in the field outside of Storm’s End with yellow banners with black flags. 

Even the King and Queen and their children arrived. The Tourney lasted three days and the wedding and the wedding feast had eight courses, each more elaborate than the last. Lord Stark, even, came with his daughters to watch their cousin get married. 

Margaery was a likable girl, pleasant and pretty. She was polite and poised, flirtatious but demure, graceful and delicate, but Stannis could see the metal beneath. His son was unsuspecting but his bride and her family would be his greatest ally in helping Stannis get rid of the Lannisters. Renly had given the Tyrrell’s that message. He counted no less than eight references to the princes resembling Lannisters from a Tyrell. King Robert noticed very little, except if his glass was empty. 

Ser Loras won the Tourney and named his sister the Queen of Love and Beauty. He could tell the way Lady Margaery looked at his son, that she liked the match and Roderick was also well pleased. Renly and Loras flirted shamelessly. Loras looked at his brother with the same gaze that his sister gave Roderick but Stannis had a feeling that the love and adoration that blazed from young Loras Tyrell’s face for Renly was much less staged than his sister’s.

Around Margaery, Roderick became a gentleman. He asked about her and brought her flowers. He had even wanted to compete in the Tourney but Lyanna would not let him. “Nothing can be worse. Imagine if something happened if you were injured. You are the bridegroom, Tend to your bride. Be her husband. Her love.”

Stannis had never heard such foolish romantic notions spill from his wife as came from her in the weeks before the wedding. During the feast, Lyanna seemed delighted by the way that Margaery seemed pleased with her new husband. Roderick was entranced with her. Stannis felt it was a bit foolish how they acted.

Roderick had hired a harp player from Oldtown to sing to play for his bride. The first song, he took her hand and led her to the floor. The crowd cheered and Stannis wondered how he had ever fathered a son so handsome, so charming, who appealed to the people in an easy way, a way he had never had. 

When the first dance was done, he had kissed her and the crowd had cheered.

The second song the harpist played, Lyanna had paled and Roderick had smiled. With a flourish and a blue rose, he had taken his mother’s hand as she dabbed at her eyes. Stannis could feel his brow furrow. He had heard this song before. It was a sad song with a sweet and haunting melody but it sounded like a dozen songs he had heard. Why would this song make his wife weep? Blue winter roses had always been Lyanna’s favorite. He would sometimes bring them home to her if he remembered. Suddenly, he looked at Ned and Robert. Robert was drunk and had some serving girl in his lap. Ned was pale and he had his cup gripped tight. Shireen was sitting by her father, so Stannis asked his daughter, “Shireen, what is this song?” 

“It is Mama’s song. The song she would sing to us in the nursery. Roderick thought she would like a dance with him today and this song is our song.” 

He looked at Matthis who was smiling, as was Jon and Edric. The look on Jon’s face made that tugging feeling of memory in his brain. The third song played was The Seasons of My Love and Roderick danced with Shireen. Stannis felt touched at the gesture. His daughter would have been pretty, but the greyscale marred her cheek. Stannis would be able to find a husband for her but he had heard whispers as people called her ugly and he was sure she had heard them as well. Ladies do not marry for love and lords do not marry for beauty.

 

Stannis extended his hand to Lyanna, “My Lady, may I have this dance?”

“Always,” she had smiled up at him, as they walked to the floor. 

 

Later, before the bedding, Cersei had come to him, lovely and poisonous. “Stannis, I believe you are softening under your wife’s touch. I would not think you would allow her to play the song Rhaegar played for her at Harrenhal all those years ago. She still sheds tears at the song. It is kind that you tolerate such feelings. I am certain if Robert wasn’t so drunk, he would take it as a great insult.” 

Stannis looked at her dress, as she went back to her seat. It was a song Rhaegar had sung to Lyanna, the song she had sung his children. Surely, Cersei was trying to breed discord in his family. It would explain the tugging at his memory and the pale angry look on Lord Stark’s face. Roderick would not have known what he had done. To him, it was a song that his mother sang to her children. How would Cersei remember a song that Prince Rhaegar sang almost fifteen years ago? No, the Lannister whore was trying to spread discord. 

After the bedding, the feast had continued. Slightly drunk but lovely, Lyanna had pulled him in the hallway and kissed him. “Let us go to bed, husband.” 

“Let me check on the boys and make sure they are in bed, They have been drinking wine and I want to make sure they are in bed and not looking for trouble.”

“Don’t make me wait too long.”

He had gone to Edric’s room and found the boy asleep in his bed. In Matthis’ room, Matthis was on the carpet before the fire and Jon had fallen asleep on the couch. There was a half-empty pitcher of wine on the table and it seemed the boys had drunk too much wine. He felt himself smile a half smile at the nature of youth. He was glad the boys had been raised with their cousins, even if they were bastards. They were good boys and would be good men, good council for his sons. They would need good counsel. 

He went to get a blanket for Matthis from the bed. As he covered his son, the light from the fire hit Jon’s hair. It was a trick of fire and darkness, but it turned the boy’s hair white, or silver. With his eyes closed and his mouth open, he looked like a Targaryen King of times past. Stannis had seen enough pictures in books, portraits they had removed from the Red Keep to the storerooms. Since his grandmother had been a Targaryen princess, there were even a few of the portraits here on Storm’s End of Targaryens.

He had only met his cousin Prince Rhaegar a handful of times, but he realized what the nagging memory was when he looked at Jon. He looked at his fingers and counted years, months. Immediately, Stannis knew what had happened.

Instead of joining his wife in their bedroom, he slept on a couch in his solar. In fact for the rest of the week that the wedding guests remained, he had as little contact with his wife and did not go to sleep in their rooms. Every night, he slept on the couch in his solar. Three separate occasions, Lyanna tried to get him to tell her what was wrong. All he could say was that he was busy and he would tell her later.

Stannis waited over a week until the all the guests had returned to the Reach or King’s Landing, or wherever they were from, 

For that week, Lord Stannis Baratheon thought about his marriage and his wife. He had taught her how to hunt and hawk, how to command and plan. There were so many things that Lyanna taught him, how to laugh, how to find pleasure, how to dance, how to ride like the wind. Stannis thought about how he knew his wife loved him; the quiet mornings at Storm's End, the way she would reach for his hand at night, the times she would scratch his back or make him spiced cider when he could not sleep. He thought back to when she taught each of the boys to shoot or the way he could never to get her to sit and learn cyvasse, the first time Matthias sailed, when she taught Shireen how to embroider a stag, the time he kissed her on the stairs after the terrible autumn storm, or when they danced at Roderick’s wedding. Surely there was love in that. Surely it wasn't all a lie. Perhaps there are only lies. Perhaps, nobles cannot love. 

When Stannis and Ser Richard finally went to Stannis and Lyanna’s chamber, Lyanna was in her robe, preparing for bed. Her hair was long and loose. At first, she smiled to see him and then her face turned to confusion. 

Stannis spoke before she could, “Ser Richard, please lock my wife in the tower, in the same room that Shireen was kept until I can figure out what to do with her treachery.”

Lyanna did not resist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long chapter-- I know some things changed a great deal but I had been thinking if Stannis had had sons, likable strong sons, maybe many things would change. Maybe Renly would not be as willing to fight against his brother if he had two sons and a legacy. Anyway, the next two chapters are not long. Hang tight- I promise the end should be good.


	5. Chapter 5

Afterward, for generations, long after Lyanna was forgotten, they would call it the Lady’s Tower. 

The first of his children to ask for their mother’s release was Shireen. In the first week, she bravely came to her father. It appeared she might be afraid to approach him that she kept her tears in her eyes. Stannis had expected her to come. “Please, Father. Please let her out. I am sure she did not mean to do whatever has upset you. I am sure it was a mistake.”

He had smiled at her but Stannis did not answer her and he did not relent.

As if she remembered her mother’s attention when she was ill, Shireen would place sticks in messages below her mother's windows, like We miss you and Ours is the Fury. She would orchestrate spectacles with horses, colored rocks and ribbons to decorate the yard. Once she put Argella in a dress and Ghost in a black jacket with silver spikes like a dragon and performed a play, enlisting Matthis, Jon, and Edric in the yard, so Lyanna could watch. The play was Aegon I’s conquest of Storm’s End. The fawn was Argella Durrandon, Matthis was Orys Baratheon, Shireen was Rhaenys, Edric was Argillac the Arrogant, Jon was Aegon I, his wolf was Meraxes.

Stannis watched the spectacle from a window When Matthis kneeled and wrapped his golden cloak around the doe, feeding her dried corn on a plate, the servants and household staff, that watched in the yard, clapped and cheered. Margaery threw flowers, laughing prettily and Roderick roared, boasting he could have beaten Orys and Aegon, as well. As he wondered what nonsense Lyanna’s imagination had filled his children’s heads, he hoped that Roderick would never get his wish. 

Shireen came a second time before either of his sons. ”Please, Father, I will not speak with her. Just let me be near her. I will lay a cushion outside her door, but I will not speak. Just lay there. I swear. ” 

Stannis would not allow it. 

He could not trust Lyanna’s words. She was a liar. Deeper still, he felt that she was laughing at him, making their life together as a joke. Did she not know what she was playing at? If Robert’s children were bastards than he was the heir to the throne and his sons had rights to the Iron Throne. 

She was breaking all the rules and propriety. How could she have brought him here, allowed him to grow close and love his cousins, his brothers? She had made Stannis’ life complicated and made his children’s life difficult. If Jon was Rhaegar’s, even Rhaegar’s bastard, he would have a stronger claim to the throne. 

 

Matthis was next to come to him about his mother. “Father, I do not dare to presume to know what crime mother that you would lock her from us. But she has been a good mother and a good lady to Storm's End. Surely you will forgive her.”

“You know nothing boy Your mother is neither a good woman or a good wife and she will sit in the tower.” 

Roderick could not tolerate it and went to the Reach to visit his new wife’s family. The night before he left, Stannis had expected him to come. He came to his father big and drunk, reminding him of Robert, “ I will give you three moons to free her, to settle what ill will you have toward her. You may be the Lord of the Stormlands and my father but she is my mother and I love her. Three moons and I will go tell the King of my father’s cruelties to Lady Lyanna. The King loves her still and will not abide it.” 

Stannis thought to say a thousand things, but all he said was, “You are drunk, son. Go and sleep beside your wife and stop speaking foolishness.” 

Jon did not ask for Lyanna to be released. He was a good boy and seemed to have no knowledge of who he was. He had done no wrong. If he told Robert, the boy’s head would be on a pike. On several occasions, Jon had talked about joining the Night's’ Watch. If he spoke those vows, the boy would not break them. On the edge of the world, he would be forgotten and no one would ever know. Jon could keep his head, as would Lyanna. He did not care to ever see her again but he could not see her killed, even though she had committed treason.

He spoke to no one. Instead, he deliberated on all the things he had found when he had searched her rooms and storage.

When he finally went to see her, two moons had passed. She was pale and thin. There were several prayer books by her bedside but Stannis knew she held no faith with the Seven, and some Septa must have left them. 

Lyanna stood when he unlocked the door. She was seated by the window watching Jon and Edric practice in the yard. “Stannis, you have finally come.”

He had brought what he had found in a trunk she had brought all those years ago. It had been careless of her to leave it so unattended. Stannis wondered if she had forgotten about them completely. Her ladies maid had said that her lady hadn’t asked for the trunks in years, that they had been in storage, untouched, forgotten. The maid had cried, “Whatever crime the trunk might hold evidence of, my Lady is innocent, true to her family and House Baratheon. True to you, my Lord.” 

 

At this point, Stannis could take no more of the woman’s blathering and had the guards escort her outside. Stannis had heard rumors that some of the staff had speculated that Lyanna had always loved Robert and Roderick was the King’s. When Stannis had found out, he had thrown her into the tower. Now, he was looking for evidence. Stannis did not correct them. In the last of the trunks, he had found what he had been looking for. 

Stannis stepped closer to his wife to see her face as he drops the bag at her feet. Spilling open as it fell, a grey cloak, fur lined and fine stitches, fell out of the bag. Lyanna bent down to pick it up. Picking up the bag, she peered in and quickly sat down. She took a deep breath and pulled another cloak out of the bag, a black one with dragons embroidered, not so fine for the Prince of Dragonstone, but how fine a cloak would he need to capture a lady on a road, fine enough to use in a wedding ceremony. This was the conclusion that Stannis had come to because why else would she keep such treason in a chest. She reached in the bag once more and Stannis watched his wife touch the object still in the bag, but she did not take it out. Instead, she looked at the stitches on the cloak. In the bottom of the bag, the lock of silver hair braided around a ribbon sat.

When Stannis had found the silver hair, he had sat on the edge of the trunk, collecting his breath. Finally, Stannis saw the whole thing, the loss of her love and her husband. Jon was not a bastard, but a Prince. 

His theory was confirmed by what he had found in her chambers. In her rooms, there was a chest she kept at the foot of their bed. Inside it, he found the cloak he put around her shoulders, embroidered with yellow tourmaline and citrine with an onyx stag. Also, inside was a lock of each of the children’s hair with a ribbon embroidered with their name. There was even one for Edric and Jon. Rickard’s tiny wisp of dark hair was held with the tiniest ribbon.

He takes the bag from her and shakes it. The silver hair tied with a black ribbon falls to the floor between them. Lyanna sees it and does not pick it up. It lays between them like a declaration of war. He watches her intently like a hawk. 

 

Softly, Lyanna folds the cloaks in her lap. She does not touch the lock of hair. She speaks, ”I thought this might be the reason you locked me away.” 

Stannis sits on her bed, “I believe I mistook your courtesy and natural joy for true affection for me.”

“I have cared for you for many years. I have lied about a few things in my life, but, my love, it was never how I felt about you.”

“If you can say one lie to save yourself, what makes this different? How can I trust you? How?” 

She looked at him, grey-eyed and torn, but proud and strong. She looked away so he spoke. ”There isn't much difference between my brother and Rhaegar. They were single-minded, willing to put the entire kingdom in jeopardy for whatever they wanted. They both wanted you and Seven Kingdoms bled.” 

 

“Will you ever let me out, Stannis?”

“I cannot say. The children miss you and Robert will probably send for me if he finds his way out of his cups. I wonder how you will explain to him why I have done what I have.”

 

“I would not speak against you. You are my husband still. You have done what you feel is best. I understand why you must. Will you tell the King about Jon?” 

“I have not decided. Did I ever tell you about when Robert asked me to defy the King? He came to me drunk after Rhaegar had taken you after Brandon had been captured. Full of stories, he spoke of his destiny, to defy the tyrannical rule of the Targaryens. He asked me to support him. It was not an easy choice. My blood or my liege? He was my king… Yet, I chose blood over duty... but I believe your brother, the honorable Lord Eddard did the same.”

Lyanna went to speak and then bit her lip. She tensed and he saw the fear, a mother’s fear.

“Lyanna, fear not. I will choose love over duty once again. I am as big a fool as Robert and Rhaegar in this matter and I am acting against all sense and reason.” 

Stannis had an urge to gather her in his arms and kiss her. He was taken back by it, but his mind lingered on the idea of kissing her and the feel of her lips against his. Firmly, he pushed it out of his head. 

Lyanna asked, “What will you do, Stannis?

“I am sending the boy to the Night’s Watch. It was his wish and I must do it before Roderick returns and talks him out of it. I have sent word to Lord Stark and he agrees with the decision. Ser Davos comes to bring him, to sail to White Harbor and stop in Winterfell so that he can say goodbye to his family. At the Night's Watch, he can have no title, no land, no family. It is the only way to keep him safe.”

She started crying, “No.. He is so young. There has to be another way..” 

“The King has sent assassins to kill the Targaryen children in Essos. He has vowed to kill every remaining Dragon. You do not even know what you have done, Lyanna. I cannot even speak of it. The King is my brother, and if he had no heirs, I would be in direct line of succession and our sons behind me. Have you never thought of what you have done to our sons? Surely you love them, too? 

Lyanna looked confused. “Of course, I love our children, Stannis. Will you at least allow me to say goodbye to Jon?”

He looked at her. “It would be strange if I did not. After all, you are his … family. But do not tell the boy. You have put him at terrible risk.”

A few days later, Jon came with Stannis to the tower to say goodbye to Lyanna. When they left, Stannis locked the door behind them, leaving Lyanna to stay in the tower.


	6. Chapter 6

Lyanna did not mind the tower as much this time. She was in her own keep and she could watch the children in the yard. She watched Roderick leave with his pretty bride, probably to the Reach. He looked up to her window and she thought he would call out to her. Instead, he blew her a kiss. Margaery clutched his arm and touched her stomach and Lyanna wondered if her brash, bold son would have one of his own soon. Perhaps, she may be able to hold it. 

Edric and Matthis would ride and spar in the yard. Shireen would slip her notes brought to her by the staff with her meals. Stannis did not come. Instead, she saw the Red Witch, the priestess of R'hllor beside him whispering in his ear and providing him counsel. Melisandre looked at Stannis like she desired him, either to eat or bed. Lyanna wondered what Stannis was up to and what the two of them spoke about in corners of the castle.

Lyanna embroidered and read. She slept and she dreamed and she passed the time. She had done this before and found it easier this time. Of course, she was older and more patient. She had thought about writing Jon or Ned but knew the futility of writing letters this time. After all, no one ever received her letters at the Tower of Joy and she did not expect any different this time. 

Instead, she waited and watched the hours pass into days into weeks. One day, she had opened her window to feel the autumn breeze on the air. Into the yard, Renly rode with Loras, dashing as always. They rode in with bannermen from the Stormlands and hundreds of men, ready to fight. Renly called out to her with a flourish and a bow, “Lyanna, we will get you out soon. You have my word, good sister.”

Lyanna smiled and shut her window, wondering what was going on in the outside world. 

That night, Sue, a cook, brought her her food, a steak, and kidney pie. Sue’s eyes were red from crying. Lyanna asked, “What has happened?”

“The King is dead.” The woman handed her a note and fled the room. 

The letter was from Shireen. It spoke of King Robert being gored by a boar while on a hunt but some whispered the Queen had plotted against him. Shireen spoke of how Uncle Eddard had written letters to the Great Houses telling them that the Queen’s children were not the King’s but bastards and that because of this, Uncle Eddard was imprisoned in the Black Cells. Shireen went on to write that Uncle Eddard’s son, Robb and Northmen were riding to rescue his father. Shireen spoke of Father calling the bannermen of the Stormlands to attack King’s Landing. Also, the Tyrell's were coming to Storm’s End to help put the true king on the throne, Stannis Baratheon.

Lyanna sat for a very long time with the letter in her hand. She remembered in another time where she had read that her brother was being held in the Black Cells. Brandon had died. Lyanna prayed to the Old Gods to save her brother, Ned. Later in that tower, there had been another letter one where she had been told Rhaegar had been killed in battle and Elia and his children murdered. The words true king rang in her head. Who really was the true king?

Lyanna allowed herself to remember her last dark days in the tower, heavy and restless, full of despair and regret. Ser Hightower had told her the plan. After she delivered the babe, they would meet up with the Queen on Dragonstone and flee to Essos. The birth had been terrible and painful, alone with a midwife. When it was finished, the midwife handed her her son. She had been surprised to see a head full of dark curls and eyes of ice staring back at her, expecting him to look like Rhaegar, wishing and praying he would look like her beautiful dead husband. 

After the birth, exhausted and weak, Lyanna had fallen asleep and had a dream where Rhaegar had come to her and told him what she should name their son. Lyanna had protested but Rhaegar had insisted. Days later, when she had whispered his name to Ned, he had looked at her slightly horrified and spoke, “We will call him Jon... Jon Snow.” 

Lyanna wondered if she would ever tell Jon his name.

Stannis came to her two nights later, “Wife, I miss you. I need your counsel. Robert is dead. Lord Stark is being held in the Black Cells but before he was imprisoned he wrote letters to the Great Houses saying the Queen’s children were bastards and I was the true King. Roderick comes to Storm’s End with the armies of the Reach and we ride for King’s Landing within the month.”

“What of Ned’s children in King’s Landing?”

“They are being held as hostages but Robb Stark is calling his bannermen to fight.”

“How long have you known that the Queen’s children were not King Roberts?” Lyanna asked the question already knowing the answer.

“I have suspected it for years. I had thought the Lannisters would be merciful, but today I received word Joffrey had Lord Stark beheaded on the steps of Baelor.” 

 

Lyanna sat down. Quickly, she realized if Stannis had suspected that long he had realized what a threat Jon was to his own sons, her sons. Stannis had sent Jon to the Wall so that there would be less bloodshed between family. Ned had also seen the truth of it. She thought of her brother, good, steady Ned and felt her heart heavy with grief.

Stannis sat next to her and put his hand over hers. He spoke, “I have missed you.”

She took Stannis’ hand and squeezed it. 

Stannis did not apologize and Lyanna had not expected it. Wordless, Stannis led her out of the tower and back to her family. He had set her up in her own rooms and she wondered if it was because he did not want to sleep beside her or that he thought she would not want to be so near to him. It didn’t really matter and Lyanna was glad to have her own rooms and her own space from him. Lyanna was glad to be reunited with her family and the household. If anyone was curious why she was put in the tower, no one dared ask. 

The night before Stannis left to invade King’s Landing, he had asked her to join him in his chambers if she would like. Lyanna replied, “I do not feel well.”

He nodded and left her to her thoughts.

Even with incredible losses, Stannis was successful at the Battle of Blackwater, though he was wounded with a shoulder injury. Renly, however, was slain by a Lannister pike. Ser Loras found Joffrey hiding in his fireplace. Joffrey Hill, once a King, now a Lannister bastard, was beheaded. Cersei was found dead on the Iron Throne with her young son, Tommen, dead in her arms from poison she had fed him. Tyrion Lannister had been seriously injured but swore his fealty and was a guest of the new King, a hostage. Grand Maester Pycelle, Varys and Littlefinger’s heads ended up adorning the Red Keep. 

 

Stannis’ injuries festered and began to make him ill but he would not rest or convalesce. He had the High Septon crown him King immediately with no pomp. Roderick would tell her later that he hadn’t wanted to be King but he would do his best because it was his duty. Stannis worked and would not rest. The wound festered and he took a fever.

Lyanna was almost to King’s Landing when she heard the bells tolling. King Stannis Baratheon, First of His Name, passed in his sleep, feverish. He would be known as Stannis Six Days because he was King for all of six days. 

As soon as the ship docked, Lyanna went to the Throne Room of the Red Keep where Stannis’ body was laid out. Roderick met her in the Throne Room. He, Matthis, and Shireen were keeping vigil beside their father. 

 

As Roderick hugged her, he spoke,”Father’s last words were Tell Lyanna, love is the death of duty and duty is the death of love.” 

As Lyanna looked at her husband, she remembered herself in this same room so many years ago, believing she would be forced to marry Robert and how she knelt and swore fealty to save Ned and Jon, thinking of how she would never be able to love again sit while Rhaegar was ash. When someone mentioned Stannis, he stepped forward with his furrowed brow and his bright blue eyes. Unnoticed and unremarkable was how to describe Stannis but how he had been the answer to all her prayers and she had loved him. 

Lyanna looked at Stannies. The indignity of death had shut his eyes and the Silent Sisters had placed theses painted wide open over them. replaced him with these stones. She found herself wishing to see the color of his eyes, afraid she would forget. Lyanna looked at his features, the aqua line nose that he had given Mathis, the long fingers he gave Shireen, the balding he gave Roderick. She looked at the lines at the meeting of his nose and the brow where the frown lines gathered, the long fingers that would reach for her, hold their children, swing his sword. Lyanna felt the tears on her face before she realized she was crying.

She leaned over him taking his stiff cold hand. “Stannis, open your eyes. I need you. You have left me in King's Landing and I need you. Please.”

Of course, her husband did not open his eyes. 

She stood there with her children, the children he helped make with her. Realizing her boys were taller than she was, she felt Roderick take her right hand and Shireen take her left.

“I will avenge father,” Roderick said, gritting his teeth to hold back his anger so it did not spill out of his eyes. “The Lannisters will pay if I have to tear every stone from Casterly Rock.”

 

She looked at him, squeezed his hand, and wondered if Robert had looked the same when he vowed to kill all the Targaryens. It was a flaw of Baratheons, their rage, and their passion. Shireen spoke, her cheeks covered in tears “The High Septon said Father is in a better place and we shouldn’t cry.” 

Lyanna squeezed her hand, “Yes, he is. Anywhere other than King’s Landing is a better place.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added an epilogue.. It should be done before the end of May_ Promise..


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